Introduction

This course will provide participants with both a theoretical foundation and the skills necessary to design and conduct training programs for personnel in nonformal education, human services, and community development. The course will present frameworks which combine adult learning pedagogy with principles of participatory training and will provide a laboratory setting in which the participants will have opportunities to practice and critique actual training methodologies. Because the course methodology relies heavily on principles of andragogy and experiential learning, much of the learning will grow out of experiences both in and out of class as participants both read about, plan, and deliver training sessions.

There are four areas which will focus on over the course of the semester: 1) the exploration of training theories and issues which include the adult learning, training and learning styles, learning objectives, and cross cultural issues; 2) the development of skills and techniques for training covering a range of hands on activities such as training design, needs assessment, team building, group process, training methods and evaluation; 3) develop an understanding of the total training process all the way from the designing of a program to the final evaluation; and 4) to have an opportunity to actually try out some training techniques.

Objectives

* To be able to understand and apply training theory to the training process.

* To have an understanding of the range of issues that must be considered in the development of a participatory training program and build those into your training activity.

* To collect, develop, and use a range of participatory training methods which will form a repertoire from which one can select appropriate exercises.

* To be able to design a trianing program from the assessment of training needs through to the completion of the training program and carry out that training activity.

Requirements and Grading

The following are the minimum class requirements

• Regular class attendance and participation in class activities.
• Completion of assigned readings.
• Completion of all written tasks.
• Participation in and out of class preparation for class presentation.
• Design and facilitate a training workshop for a particular audience and setting.
  (Complete workshop plan, design, & activities to be submitted as a training manual.)
• Grading for this course is on a Pass/Fail basis. A letter grade can be requested by the third session.

Course Texts and References

Since training covers such a vast field and individual requirements for training materials vary greatly, there is no single text that can fit all needs. During the early part of the semester, we will review a large number of options available for training texts and materials. The text requirements will include:

Dale, Duane, et al (1979) Beyond Experts: A Guide for Citizen Group Training. University of Massachusetts, MA: Citizen Involvement Training Project . (This is a required text since worksheets and exercises in this training manual will be used throughout the course.)

Eitington, Julius (2001) The Winning Trainer. Houston, Texas: Gulf Publishing Company . (This book is not required but highly recommended as an excellent resource for trainers This can be purchased at Food for Thought located in the center of downtown Amherst.)

Participants in the class will choose 1 training book/manual that they feel most meet their needs and purchase/borrow the material as additional text for the class. This will also give us the opportunity to discuss the merits of these materials with each other and decide if there are additional materials you would like to acquire for your own training library.

Also, there will be a number of additional readings handed out in class as well as materials put on reserve in the CIE Resource Room.

Methodology

The course will follow the methodology of participatory training and, most of the time, class sessions will be conducted as a training workshop. Students will be involved in the design, delivery, and evaluation of training activities within a framework which combines adult learning pedagogy with principles of participatory training. The class will provide a laboratory setting in which we will have the opportunities to explore, practice, and critique actual training theories and methodologies.

Course Outline

In order to meet the objectives of the course, the course will be divided into three segments. The first segment will be an exploration of a series of general issues in training including the definition of training, adult training, interaction between trainer and participants, training process, cross-cultural perspectives, learning styles, etc. The second segment will focus on training skills, methods, and techniques where students will have the opportunity to present and explore a variety of training activities and methodologies which can add to your training repertoire. The third segment will focus on looking at the total training design from beginning to end and the development of training workshops to be carried out by class participants in teams.

Semester Project

The Project is designed as an opportunity for you to develop a complete training program from beginning to end. This activity includes all activities from developing the goals and objectives, to solving logistical, facility and living situations, to determining the training style to designing the training strategy, to developing the training methodology, to establishing the training schedule, to preparing the training activities, to evaluating the training outcomes. In short, a complete training package that you would be proud to actually attempt!!. As a general guideline, past participants in the class have found this activity most useful when they have designed a workshop that has run for at least 5 days. This has given them an ample enough time frame to be able to include a variety of activities in their training design.

There is quite a bit of flexibility in your choice on the delivery of the training program. You can team up with another facilitator or you can do it alone. We have identified a number of potential workshops with a variety of clienteles which you could prepare training workshops for. You may also have your own situations in a particular setting that you would like to develop a workshop for. We will spend time early in the semester determining what people will do so we can insure that the activities during the training workshops sections of the course meet your needs as you develop your workshops and prepare to present them.